In the late seventeenth century, witchcraft was big deal as it is now. When someone knows how to deal with nature and understand certain ways to manipulate it to yield to him/herself then such a one is labeled a witch. Until now, when people see that one is breaking forth against odds or doing things that seem beyond the ordinary then others begin to tag them as witches or devil’s agent.
As far back as 1692, the Salem witch trials occurred in colonial Massachusetts, present day Denver in US. So many people, especially women (and even children), were accused of practicing witchcraft. Though there was no proof as to what they had done, they were usually burnt to death. As history would have it, it was said that those who confessed to the accusations were abandoned but those who denied or had nothing to say were persecuted. Innocent citizens were persecuted for nothing.
There were issues in Salem society then, people who involved in acts against the law and committed crimes or those that acted against their belief weren’t confronted but rather, others laid accusations that other persons were the ones spiritually instigating such acts of wickedness.
For me right now, I know that history has a way of repeating itself, the same mistakes older generations made are the same mistakes we are making again. Instead of finding ways of confronting those issues their society faced as at that time, they looked for others upon whom they blamed their problem. If you ask me, their problems never got solved.
If you look closely, you would discover that anything people don’t understand they label as evil. If you don’t think like them or you reason above them, or you make certain pronouncement that goes beyond the ordinary then you must be devil’s handy man. Omo, see trouble!
